In the post-World War II era there was a school of thought in public administration, whose main proponent was Robert Moses, that improved roadways and two cars in every garage was both the American dream and the answer to the American housing need. We have since learned that this was a badly flawed concept but for close to 70 years we’ve continued to view this idealistic and essentially “pure” view rather when addressing transportation needs as a whole and developing realistic federal or state transportation plans and policies.

The gasoline tax was never designed to support roads and bridges only; it most certainly was supposed to cover things such as enforcement highway safety and amenities such as rest stops despite which agency within the state had the responsibilities and got the monies.

Today we also recognize that the concept of increasing carrying capacity on highways and roads will never meet the needs of a country or state whose population density has reached current levels. The answer is alternative means of transportation and a much larger focus on public transportation/mass transportation.

If I were to take your salary or most of our retirements and look at their absolute value in 1993 and then suggest that we should reduce retirement benefits to those levels you would also find a great dichotomy between reality and political ideology. We have not allowed gas taxes to become indexed with inflation and we should have done that. We need a drastic step to correct for the last 20 years of neglect and the impact of inflation on gasoline taxes.

The House of Representatives must take corrective actions for 20+ years of neglect as well as new actions to create an integrated transportation plan that recognizes the importance of short sea transport, or Marine highways; freight and passenger rail services; increased use of pipelines, especially for distribution of natural gas into far greater portions of southern New Hampshire; and vastly improved mass transit, again especially within Hillsborough, Merrimack Rockingham and Strafford counties.

I fully support the proposed increase in gas taxes, do not support any attempt to restrict the uses of those funds, and, would support both an increase in registration fees and some form of vehicle mileage tax.

Bob Jaffin

Rochester

Why the gas tax hike rush?

To the Editor:

While Rochester citizens continue to struggle with the everyday costs of providing for ourselves and our families, five of our Democratic members of NH’s House of Representatives voted to make life that much more difficult to manage. Representatives Anne Grassie, Pam Hubbard, David Miller and Audrey Stevens all voted to raise NH’s gas tax by 83 percent over four years. That’s 15 cents over the next four years!

Now I understand safe roads and bridges are important to NH’s economy and our ability to get to and from work. I also understand traveling over bad roads have associated costs with vehicle upkeep and no one wants to travel over a bridge that could collapse, but raising the gas tax by 15 cents at a time when gas prices are soaring and alternative measures were available simply makes no sense.

According to Charlie Arlinghaus from the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy “A four-cent increase in the gas tax would raise about $27 million each year. Fifteen cents would raise about $100 million per year (current gas tax receipts are $123 million). Merely following the current law to make sure the existing user fees are spent as advertised would add $28 million over two years before charging anyone anything more.”

So why the rush to raise taxes? Well, it might be because the prime sponsor of HB 617, Rep. Campbell (d) “gloated” in an email “that the increase of the gas tax was “a gift that keeps on giving,” and urged his fellow Democrats not to “spend it all in one place.” I’m by no means suggesting the five Rochester Representatives who chose to vote to increase the gas tax feel the same way as Rep. Campbell, but I would like to know why they went along with the idea if they knew all we needed to do is follow current law an apply the same level of funding to our roads and bridges as HB 617 does.

If NH’s policy makers are going to continue to make unwise decisions they will simply delay efforts to dig out from the existing harsh financial times. I urge you to contact your representatives and let them know how you feel. I know when I served it had an impact on how I made decisions.

Fred Leonard

Rochester

New SHS policy ‘ridiculous’

To the Editor:

Hi, my name is Brett Ricard. Recently, I was suspended from Spaulding High School for saying the word “bitch” to a fellow student during class. Please note, the word was not said out of anger.

I am currently a senior at Spaulding and am enrolled in my second semester. I have a GPA well above a 4.0, and I am ranked in the top 25 of my class. The list of my accomplishments at Spaulding is more than many other students could say. I am a co-president of the French Honor Society, a member in the 2013 class council, a member of the National Technical Honor Society, I have my prostart certificate as well as my serv safe certificate thanks to a two year restaurant program I have almost completed, I am a member of the New Hampshire Scholars, I will be graduating with 33, yes, 33 credits come June, and, until now, my permanent record at Spaulding high school has been absolutely spotless, with absolutely no behavioral problems whatsoever, and honors three out of four years.

Because of a new policy the superintendant’s office has enacted, any form of profanity is grounds for suspension from Spaulding High school. I said this one little word to a fellow senior during class, a word that, as defined in the dictionary, means a female dog, and I got suspended for two days. Two days of my education that I will not be getting back, and a spot on my permanent record that will remain, well, permanent.

Even the Spaulding High School safety team members were shocked to see me in the “Transition Support Room” as we call it at the school. As the safety team members and the principal, who I asked to speak with upon learning that a suspension was imminent, have told me, if they could have done something to stop it, they would have.

As I have been told, a suspension of two days cannot be challenged. As you can see by reading this, I am the opposite of a bad student. If a student of this calibre can be suspended for such a small offense, what hope does the rest of Spaulding High School have? A flow of support from students and teachers alike shows me that this new policy is ridiculous and, really, a waste of everybody’s time. Thank you for reading. I just wanted to get my story out there.

Brett Ricard

Rochester

Brett treated unfairly

To the Editor:

Hi there. My name is Arianna Baker. I’m a classmate of Brett’s. The girl he called a bitch, actually. I thought it was very funny because Brett and I are friends and that’s just how we joke around; it was a complete joke and that truly was understood by everyone. I wasn’t offended in the least.

That being said, Spaulding has introduced a new anti-profanity policy. Any student heard swearing will be given a day each of In school suspension and out of school suspension. It is a very new policy. Maybe a week old. In our class in particular, joking around with each other had always been acceptable. With the recent changes it was explained that in that class particular by that teacher that she understood joking with friends and that people slipped up as long as it was not a frequent occurrence and as long as it wasn’t aimed at her.

Many students heard this be said and can back that claim up. Students swore in that class before and after Brett was sent out. And the teacher was completely aware that sending a student out would result in suspension. I understand the teachers are in a position of not wanting to get their students suspended and wanting to follow rules given by their superiors.

My view is not bias. But not when they are picking and choosing to follow the procedure. That’s when it becomes unfair. Brett was unfairly treated and now has to miss two days of school. For saying bitch. It’s a word, maybe not appropriate for school but it was understood we would not be sent to the tsr for this. They want respect from us, well you can’t force respect — it is earned. Being in a position of “power” does not grant the right to subjectivity. They want us to stand, put our hand to our hearts, and recite the pledge every morning while denying us one of our most basic rights? The freedom of speech? Tell me what’s respectable about that.

Arianna Baker

Rochester

Swearing allegiance

To the Editor:

I am writing the e-mail to express my support in the venture to lift the new policy put in place at Spaulding High School. I am a senior and agree with Brett Ricard and most all of the 1,600 students.

Mallory Pearce

Rochester

God works miracles

To the Editor:

On an ordinary day earlier this winter I had an extraordinary experience while riding the Route 6 bus from Rochester to Farmington. I suddenly sensed the spiritual presence of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sitting on the bus seat right next to me!

At first I didn’t believe it; I dismissed it as a product of my creative imagination. But then I realized that the experience I was having was quite valid and real, that I was neither imagining things nor seeing things that weren’t there.

It’s taken me several years to accept the fact that I’m a psychic medium, that I am genuinely psychic, not psychotic. My first experience of hearing Dr. King speak to me from the other side was in Dover, back in 1999.

What interests me more than the reality of this particular experience is what it represents — namely, racial harmony. I’m grateful for my friend Martin, and I’m grateful for Rosa Parks’ courage in 1955.

I can’t exactly blame anyone for thinking I’m nuts. After all, I’ve been public about my mental illness. And yet the fact remains that God works miracles through ordinary people like me!

Alex J. Boros

Rochester

Repeal vouchers

To the Editor:

Have you heard of the Network for Educational Opportunity? It’s a California group working to shut down New Hampshire public education and it is the only organization authorized by the state to manage millions of dollars worth of voucher money in New Hampshire.

How could this even happen?

Anyway, NEO says they have more than 500 “poor families” applying for private school vouchers. That’s a million dollars in voucher applications, although the group says it has raised very little money to pay for them.

Actually, if there really are a lot of applications, I wonder how many are for kids already in unaccredited private schools like Tri-City Christian Academy in Somersworth? Tri-City scheduled a voucher recruiting meeting at its open house next week and has featured the voucher program on its web site. Looking to get as much of this voucher money as possible, they have even sent letters to parents of children already attending Tri-City saying that they should compete with poor families for these state funded tuition money. Tri-City lobbied hard for vouchers and says it shares NEO’s philosophy that “government schools” are evil but government money is good.

Is this what our state government is funding instead of Healthy Kids?

The state should not be spending our money this way. The House has voted to repeal vouchers and the Senate needs to do the same. Please call Senator Cataldo and Senator Waters and tell them to get us out of this mess.

Mark Mitchell

Barrington

Opposed to Northern Pass

To the Editor:

In the March-April issue of Yankee magazine is an article titled “ My Roots Are Deeper Than Your Pockets”. The article is about the “Northern Pass LLC Utilities Group” (a parent company of Public Service) trying to install big, high-voltage towers from Canada down through our U.S. North Country!!

Hydro-Quebec and Northeast Utilities (parent to Public Service) want to install 180 miles of transmission lines through New Hampshire. Forty new miles of right-of-way for towers 80 to 140 feet high would be needed! The “Alliance Against the Northern Pass” has been formed to fight this project!

Rod McAllister could have sold his dairy farm for $4 million , but where would he be? He would have sold himself off the earth! People who have lived here in the North Country for generations on their farms have been approached to sell their land for this project. Many residents are strongly apposed to this whole project — some have sold for much money, but most want to keep what they have had for generations, and are willing to fight for it.

There will always be greedy, power-hungry businesses that want more and more I salute those people who want to keep what is theirs and are willing to fight for it. Ridding the landscape of hideous towers would be a bonus to keeping their lands and homes forever.